Sinestro #1 – Review

By: Cullen Bunn (story), Dale Eaglesham (art), Jason Wright (colors)

The Story: Just when you need a fear-mongering dictator, he decides to give it all up. Figures.

The Review: As Hal Jordan’s primary arch-nemesis, Sinestro has always been a formidable villain, but in recent years, under Geoff Johns’ revitalizing pen, he’s now become one of the all-time greats of DCU antagonists. In some ways, he blends elements of two of his peers; he has rationality and arrogance to rival Lex Luthor, but like Joker, he has loftier aims than merely destroying his rival. But Sinestro is more than their amalgamation; he’s nobler and more capable of genuine sympathy than either.

Weird as it is to say that Sinestro has a heart, it’s the only way to explain how he can be driven to weariness, even something like depression. These are foreign emotions for most other villains; they require a degree of self-reflection that would take a villain too close to questioning his purpose, and God forbid we should have that. But for all the violence and callousness of his methods, Sinestro’s purpose has never been outright evil. He can appreciate the costs of his actions, which is why here, we see him weighing his real, personal losses against his scant, vague achievements.

Even though Bunn has a melodramatic streak in his writing (“My people…alive? Victimized because of my actions? Suffering now because of my inaction?“), he does succeed in taking Sinestro to a place where you want to see him rebuild his life. Having lost his connection to both corps, his homeworld, and his daughter, Sinestro takes a step forward, albeit a small one, in recovering all three by the end of the issue. It’s undoubtedly going to be a long, upward struggle, but Sinestro is perfectly suited for that kind of man-versus-universe conflict.

Part of the attraction to Sinestro is even facing such odds, he doesn’t succumb to despair or even negative thinking. He’s always in complete control, whether he’s tussling alone and unarmed with a pack of alien wildcats or putting down a whole squadron of hostile corpsmen. He’s not terribly interested in what people think, which can make him insufferably cocky most of the time, but heroic at others. It’s not likely he’ll receive much thanks for his rescue of some kidnapped Korugarians—or his captive daughter—but that doesn’t matter, so long as he’s doing what he thinks is right, which sounds pretty heroic to me.

Bunn does seem to be setting Sinestro up for antihero greatness. In form, this issue resembles many of the great epic adventures: the protagonist vaguely discontented in his settled life; the arrival of a sage portending impending disaster and his role in averting it; and the personal stakes that finally persuade him to go. The threat of “[t]he Paling,” an anti-emotion movement spreading across the universe, doesn’t move Sinestro much, but once he realizes the few remaining Korugarians are most at risk to be sacrificed to the Paling, the proper grudge is born.

Perhaps my biggest problem with the Paling is they sound too similar to other Green Lantern threats we’ve seen in the past. The Black Lanterns and the Third Army were all invasive forces that tried to wipe out emotion, and the Paling fits within that same category a bit too neatly.

Whenever I think of Eaglesham’s art, I think of the wholesome work I used to see in the pages of Justice Society of America. For Sinestro, Eaglesham goes for a much more savage look, one that doesn’t entirely lose all of his naturally regal quality. The end result is something that can be monstrous and demonic by turns, but also shapely and elegant. He’s also putting in a lot of extra effort in detailing the close-up shots, as I can’t remember anyone in the JSA looking as fierce and intense and recklessly emotional as the characters do here. Wright’s colors are bright but so lush in tone that it takes away from the sophisticated look of Eaglesham’s visuals.

Conclusion: An appropriate start to Sinestro’s solo adventures, but unremarkable, besides Eaglesham’s art.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I hope to never see Lyssa do the KISS tongue ever again. Weirdly disturbing.